The reason Nepal got five penalty runs in UAE ODI

After UAE batter Alishan Sharafu covered the ball with his saliva during the team's bowling innings in the second one-day international series on Wednesday, opposing Nepal were awarded free five runs as a penalty.

On-field umpires Vinay Jha and Durga Subedi noticed Sharafu applying saliva to the ball as per old habits, an act that is now banned.

The rule originally came after the spread of coronavirus over two years ago. Players were not allowed to use saliva under COVID measures. As per the new conditions that have been applicable since October 01, the team would be punished for the bowler's action during the match by rewarding the other team with five runs. 

Sharafu's mistake was the first application of the rule since the changes came into place.

Nepal, who eventually won the match on home ground, definitely benefitted from the mistake after struggling with their batting and reaching the 191 mark set by the UAE.

In the fight to pursue the score, the team lost Arjun Saud and Aasif Sheikh to just 13/2 during the powerplay. Losing caretaker captain Rohit Paudel went out for 8 and Gyanendra Malla (26) fell to 54/4.

Finally, Kushal Bhurtel (35) and Aarif Sheikh (33*) contributed to the sinking ship as well as Gulsan Jha and Sompal Kami.

The tourist team lost by three wickets and with 13 balls to spare.